I reluctantly wake up on a Sunday morning to the incessant beeping coming from my alarm clock. Mascara residue is still on my face, my hair is a mess, and my head is throbbing. An instant wave of shame surges through my body as I replay the events of Saturday night in my mind. “Oh no….” I think to myself, “did I seriously watch six hours of Netflix last night?”
It starts with one episode, then two, and before you know it you have fallen into the bottomless pit that is Netflix. Instead of hanging out with friends or catching up on much needed sleep, you stay up all night on weekends watching House of Cards. And Sunday morning Netflix hangovers aren’t the worst of it. Sure hiding in your room with your laptop and embracing your inner social recluse is arguably not a productive way of living your life, but once you prioritize Netflix on weekdays, that’s when you know it’s bad.
Soon you use shows as a way to put off studying for the SAT, doing homework, or writing college essays. And while you may be satisfying your Netflix cravings, your grades are paying the price. Not only are you avoiding your daily obligations, your addiction to Netflix spirals out of control. First you’re just avoiding homework by simply keeping up with current tv shows, but before you know it you’ve moved on from shows to movies. Now you’re watching chipotle documentaries, romantic French dramas, and clicking on Netflix’s suggestions for you as if it’s the highly valued opinion of a life long friend. Suddenly it’s four in the morning, you’re half way into a documentary called “Fame High” and you know you’ve hit rock bottom.
Okay, so maybe your Netflix addiction isn’t as severe as this, but most of you can relate to the distractions the internet can cause (and if you can’t, well I’m not sure how I feel about that.) Throughout high school, I have used Netflix as a means of avoiding my day-to-day problems, but little by little Netflix became my problem. But even though I can accredit a lot my procrastination to the countless hours I spent watching shows, I know that Netflix did help me to some extent. Whenever I felt anxious, stressed, or dejected, Netflix was there to alleviate my worries and calm me down. But now that it’s second semester, I want my days of binge watching Mad Men at 2am to be over, but I fear that my consistent past use of Netflix has carried on and become an escape from nothing. I have little homework, zero college stress, and lets be real, simply don’t care about responsibilities anymore #seniors #amiright.
Sure, it may sound hypocritical coming from a girl who compulsively binge watches an endless sources of entertainment on Netflix, but I think it’s time to turn the tables (and turn off your computer).
Second semester is the time to guiltlessly indulge in freedom, not to continue bad habits. Put down your computers, open your blinds and enjoy the few months that us second semester seniors have left in the beautiful Bay Area. Take the bart to San Francisco more, open a book that isn’t required by your English teacher, try that new sushi place on Grand, and lastly use the last precious months to spend time with your friends and family. Afterall, we still have netflix during midterms next year.
